Joe Stevens is a filmmaker and photographer whose work has appeared in the Hammer Museum of Los Angeles and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In the past year his work has been featured in Nylon, Creative Review, Fast Company, Intersection and the Guardian. This work is from his series, Vans and the places where they were. Stevens writes:
Vans and the places where they were documents surviving custom and conversion vans across the West and examines the dialogue which exists between a van’s design aesthetic and that of its surrounding environment. The project began in 1996 and currently consists of hundreds of images shot on 120 film.
Over the course of the project the vans themselves have become more and more of a rarity. The reasons are as simple as rust and changing tastes; and as complex as government ‘cash for clunkers’ initiatives encouraging more fuel-efficient transportation. Notably, at the same time these vans have been disappearing from our roads – film photography as a visual medium has also begun it’s slow death. Consequently the goal of the project is to one day shoot the last remaining van on the final frame of photographic film in existence. Then the project will be finished. Taken from Feature Shoot
All images © Joe Stevens
Orange Econoline, Culver City, CA, Winter 2010
White Dodge with Red Wheel, Beneath the 110 Interchange, Los Angeles, Fall 2007
Blue Chevy, Culver City, CA, Fall 2009
White Tradesman with Stripes, Near the Airport, Burlingame, CA, Winter 1996
Orange Tradesman with Stripes, Venice Beach, CA, Winter 2007
Blue Econoline with Blue Mural, Castro District, San Francisco, Summer 1997
White Dodge, Los Angeles, CA, Winter 2010
White Chevy with Red Stripes, Downtown Los Angeles, Spring 2003